Griffiths Bros was here’ in newly launched campaign via The Reactor, Melbourne

Australia’s oldest coffee roasters Griffiths Bros has launched its next brand campaign with Melbourne advertising agency, The Reactor.

Says Angus Smallwood, head of strategy, The Reactor: “The Australian coffee landscape is incredibly crowded, with new roasters coming into the market all the time – and disappearing just as quickly. But Griffiths Bros. has been around for over 140 years and has been a central part of the coffee scene in Australia all that time. You don’t survive that long in such a competitive environment unless you’re delivering a quality product that puts you ahead of your competitors.”

The Reactor’s creative director, Nick Brown says celebrating that longevity was the spark for the campaign’s idea: “We were looking through the company’s archives and came across the photo of three men roller skating down Adelaide’s Rundle Mall in 1913, and in the background, there’s a giant ad for Griffiths Bros. It made us realise that Griffiths Bros has always been there. So we thought, let’s create a campaign that’s a mixture of heritage and contemporary, showing that this brand with 140 years of history is still going strong today.”

According to Peter Patisteas, the managing director of Griffiths Bros, one of the things they liked about the campaign was the way it blended a contemporary feel with a heritage backdrop: “Our rich provenance is something we’re very proud of, but we’re also one of Australia’s leading roasters, with a highly-automated, state of the art roastery that produces over 10-12 tonnes of coffee per week. We loved the way The Reactor’s idea managed to show that we’re a brand with a foot in both worlds.”

The campaign went live during Melbourne Coffee Week, with a mixture of rock posters, web and social advertising, and has garnered plenty of attention already.

Says Courtney Sims, marketing manager, Griffiths Bros Group: “Australia’s coffee industry is a pretty close-knit community, so going live during the biggest event on the industry’s calendar has definitely got the trade talking but it’s also been doing wonders for our online sales.”

Client: Griffiths Bros
Marketing Manager: Courtney Sims
Agency: The Reactor
Digital: The Reactor Group (TRG) – Straight Out
Digital Creative Director: Nick Brown
Head of Strategy: Angus Smallwood
Art Direction: Nick Brown / Angelica Rowe
Copywriter: Nick Brown / Angus Smallwood
Graphic Design: Shev Tan
Head of Digital: Simon Blangiardo
Digital Account Manager: Damien Bonal
Social Media Manager: Byron Lumley